Minimum Five-Year Outcomes and Clinical Survivorship Following Arthroscopic Double-Row Repair for Full-thickness Supraspinatus Tears

OBJECTIVES: Rotator cuff tears lead to significant morbidity due to pain and decreased function. Despite the prevalence of cuff repairs, mid-term outcomes have been scarcely reported. The purpose of this study is to report minimum 5-year outcomes and clinical survivorship after double-row rotator cuff repair for full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears. METHODS: Patients at least five years out from arthroscopic double-row repair for a full-thickness cuff tear involving the supraspinatus tendon were included. Pre- and postoperative ASES, SF-12 PCS, QuickDASH, SANE, and satisfaction scores were collected. The relationship between outcomes and (1) tear chronicity, (2) number of tendons involved, (3) type of repair, and (4) primary versus revision procedure, was also evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis was conducted defining failures as progression to revision rotator cuff surgery. RESULTS: From November 2005 to February 2012, a total of 189 shoulders were eligible for inclusion. Fifteen shoulders (7.9%) underwent revision rotator cuff repair and were considered failures. Outcomes data were reported at a mean follow-up of 6.6 (range, 5.0-11.0) years. All outcome scores significantly improved from pre- to postoperative time point, including mean ASES (57.9 to 92.9, P < 0.001), SF-12 PCS (43.4 to 52.0, P < 0.001), QuickDASH (35.2 to 10.5, P < 0.001), and SANE scores (61.5 to 86.5, P < 0.001). Acute tears demonstrated significantly better ASES and SANE scores than chronic tears (ASES 95.1 ± 8.9 versus 91.7 ± 11.2, P = 0.025; SANE 89.6 ± 19.9 versus 85.7 ± 21.3, P = 0.042). No other analyzed variable had a significant association with outcomes scores (P > 0.05). Survivorship analysis demonstrated a postoperative clinical survivorship of the repair of 96.5% at two years and 93.8% at five years (Figure 1). CONCLUSION: Patients can expect excellent clinical outcomes and a low failure rate following arthroscopic double-row repair of full-thickness supraspinatus tears at mid-term follow-up. The repair of acute tears and primary repairs were associated with better postoperative outcomes.